Medal of Honor: Warfighter Review

Joe Anderson
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4 years ago

And so, after patching a depressingly long bug list we finally get a go on the newest Medal of Honor game, Warfighter. Some may think that waiting for around an hour for a patch to download for a brand new game is a little too long and I'm amongst them, especially when said patch doesn't solve all the problems, however we'll get to that, for now let us talk about the game.

Taking the Medal of Honor series away from the classic WWII battles that spawned it all those years ago and moving to a more modern conflict was a brave move considering the already busy market with Battlefield and Call of Duty games and, single player modes aside, thankfully they always pulled out a decent multiplayer. With Warfighter you take control of a group of Tier 1 Operators as they race against the clock to stop a terrorist madman called The Cleric and his cache of explosive chemicals, PETN. Jetting all over the world you get to have plenty of fire fights, backed up by your own team, calling out orders and slowly making your way to the next mission objective. With an occasional "inspired by true events" title you will end up clearing out terrorist training camps, chasing suspects through the dusty streets of Pakistan and raiding a pirate lair on the coast of Somalia.

The single player action is full on but a little short and overall, somewhat disappointing. The on foot levels are too tightly scripted, move even slightly away from what is expected and you will find yourself surrounded by enemies and although this is forgivable in a terrorist hotspot with all the locals having itchy trigger fingers, when they start to mysteriously appear from a previously emptied room there are some issues. The same can be said for your comrades in arms, stick to the script and all is ok, but use a little ingenuity and break for higher ground and you'll find yourself all alone, with your teammates bottlenecked in the alleyways; that's if you ever do come across another route as most of the on foot levels are extremely linear.

To call this an all-out first person shooter (FPS) would be misleading, especially on the single player campaign as there are more than a few occasions where you break from the run and gun and are introduced to something a little different (not to be confused with original).You have the usual sniper mission with harsh penalties for missing the vital shot, while you'll also find yourself riding shotgun in a chopper whilst offering aerial cover for your squad mates on the ground. In addition you'll be making enemies eat your wake in a daring hostage rescue mission on a speed boat and even utilizing a remote controlled gun platform called Bot that can drive around relatively unnoticed, allowing you to clear the path ahead.

There are a few extra areas to add to note, the first being breach tactics. Every now and then a closed door will present itself and with your team stacking around it you can order a specific entrance tactic; starting with a good old fashioned boot to the door and a flash grenade around the corner, with every headshot you gain through breach mode you unlock more options. Sadly this didn't work or me, with a tomahawk unlocking initially and then each one after that flashing on my screen as unlocked but sadly not usable, never knowing what a crowbar or shotgun would gain me on breach. To make it worse, the trophy for using each one unlocked mid-way through the game.

Though it is all very familiar it is still thrilling with the action taking a Michael Bay approach, throwing everything at you at once, before letting the dust settle and hitting repeat. This hits a personal peak for me during a driving mission in Dubai, kidnapping a possible lead on intel and throwing them in the boot, Preacher and Mother hightail it through the city streets of Dubai, using old buildings to avoid capture and trying to avoid being boxed in by a security team by ramming them; this is real pulse pounding action that never lets up, playing like a violent version of Need for Speed, it's just such a shame it's so short-lived.

Medal of Honor really tries to go for a different approach to the blockbuster shooting genre and sadly it mostly fails, starting with a terrorist training camp, mimicking what we would see in the start of many other games, with lots of talk of Jihad and what not, but it goes nowhere; then trying to show a multiple pronged global attack against said terrorists but it all ends up a bit if a mess, never really being clear who you are playing other than the occasional shout from a team member or an embarrassing attempt at showing a family side to these men of war during cut scenes.

Graphically it's a mixed affair, looking great on the initial play-through with some fantastic rain and lighting effects and a real world approach to bullets, with them zinging all around you, forming holes in walls and throwing up dust all around you but then spoiling it with some very basic effects, worse culprit being the carpet like flood water in the Philippines.

So single player is a bit weak, surely the multiplayer can raise its head high, considering in the past Battlefield masters DICE held the reigns. Sadly this is not the case here and aside from a couple of unique and standout ideas it's yet another XP grinding affair.

Allowing you to choose from a selection of countries Tier 1 units (12 altogether) you get to fill in the shoes of the best of the best across a selection of small and compact maps that allow for lots of close combat. They are however very familiar to other maps out there and the developers Danger Close really just cannot create a balanced map, with them being far too linear and extremely restrictive, giving the impression of huge expansive levels but in fact being very closed in with no real freedom. Flaws in the maps include open buildings to enter with upper floors but all of the windows are blocked off, while character movement is very restrictive, you know there is an enemy on other side of a low wall but there is no possible way to jump over, either manually or by using a series of crates or rocks scattered near the wall.

Depending on what country and Tier 1 group you choose will dictate your starting class, like UK SAS starting you off as an assault class, with the more XP earned through battle, the more items become available be it a culmination of kills using a certain weapon unlocking customisable parts to earning by ranking up new classes of soldier including snipers, heavy machine guns or Spec.Ops. Within each team you are paired up with another player, creating a buddy system in which you can choose to have a specific voice chat with, spawning on their position it they are alive and a helpful portable supply point for health and ammo, keeping the fire fights active rather than constantly running from the safe haven of the team spawn.

To add even more firepower to the game, as you earn kills within each life you will boost your scorechain, eventually unlocking a support action that may help sway the battle in your favour. Each class has their own tier of support items to call, split into offensive and defensive with the likes of smoke screens, mortars, switchblade rockets and Apache helicopter support.

The biggest change is the overall look of the menu system, feeling a lot more user friendly whilst at the same time being really confusing with quick links to your favourite game modes and servers and even a Battlelog feed working really well but the character selection and weapons customisation is just a complete mess, not really having any clear indication of how and when you unlock new items.

Multiplayer is a "more of the same" approach to the Medal of Honor series, it?s all very familiar if you have played any of the other FPS games out there but after all this time it still has its problems with plenty of glitches and even the overlooking of some basic FPS fundamentals from failed melee attempts to generally unresponsive controls, especially when reloading. You'll also find yourself getting stuck in your support vehicles with the game constantly looking to re-spawn, while you'll also spot a rather annoying reoccurring bug where you re-spawn outside of the map, starting with only half your health. Finally, in the Combat Mission mode if you are on the defending side, as soon as a bomb is detonated you are instantly classed as being in enemy territory, resulting in an instant death; I could go on but the list will be longer than the original bug fix.

Just like the games main protagonist, Medal of Honor fails in its attempt to set the world on fire, adding nothing to the FPS to the genre and with such a pedigree, managing to get so much wrong. This is a highly competitive time of year for gaming with so many AAA titles tempting you to part with your money; this is not one of them.

Words by Ash Buchanan.

(Version Tested: PS3)

Pros

- Good variety of missions

- Breach tactics are a great addition (when they work)

- Some thrilling action in places

- Great lighting and particle effects, bits of brick and debris fly everywhere

- Sound effects are very satisfying

Cons

- Short Campaign

- Computer AI isn't the best

- Glitches aplenty

- Controls can be unresponsive in mutliplayer

- Multiplayer is currently disappointing (patches could make this better over time)

new review system is brilliant... game to me is a big waste of time.. shooters are getting boring to me and this is worse than cod which holds the title at the minute.. halo 4 will be the shooter that people will want the most this year bring that on!

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I think Black Ops 2 is actually the shooter everyone wants right now... for better or worse.
”

PrometheusFan
4 years ago

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With halo coming out soon i wouldn't touch this with a 6 foot pole! especially after reading of a poor length Campaign and poor online that requires yet more patching. If a game is not finished and in need of some serious patching then don't release it! Something really does need to happen to stop these big companies and publishers doing this!
”

Rachael
4 years ago

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Yep, they shouldn't be releasing unfinished games, but online just means we will get more and more of them, because they can just fix it later, not that they do all the time.
”

Dead
4 years ago

PrometheusFan
4 years ago

Sounds a bit of a mess. Sad part is I'd probably still have bought it if they'd included a HD updated PS2 MoH game with it again, as with the previous title. As it is though, rental at best.

hallben
4 years ago

Most certainly sounds like a title to pick up when it goes sub £20. Which I suspect wont take long at all.

Warren
4 years ago

I recommend it, the multiplayer you need to give a good hour or so, once you get used to it, you will be hooked
Great game!

Hutt
4 years ago

sounds like a mess. exactly like the last MoH title. fast becoming a series / title that everyone avoids until it hits the bargain bin. i was in a 'high street game shop' this afternoon and they told me they hadn't sold even one!

ALIAS
4 years ago

I will eventually get this game, maybe at the start of 2013. By then some or most of the glitches that are in it will be fix.

ALIAS
4 years ago

sorry for the double post. I have trouble posting comments on this site mostly never works :-/

gods mercenary
4 years ago

Utter crap sigleplayer only 3 hours long and as for online another mish mash of shit will be trading it in on monday.Hate or love call of duty games at least i can go online and play a hardcore game and know i dont have to use a whole clip to get a kill.Moh is another shooter rushed and shipped out to try and beat cod the only shooter that could pull it off is battlefield.

Jamie
4 years ago

the plot of the single player was very confuiesing for me and i actually had to look it up on the internet to see what was going on in the story. the campaign was fun for me as i loved the driving missions but the ai in the campaign would sit around a corner wait for me to come and then shoot me, it was unrealistic ikn my opinion but my positives and negatives are:
positives -
1. campaign was a 6 hour fun jouney
2. multiplayer offers alot of choice in customizeation
3. variety of scenarios and missions ( driving, controlling a boat, etc)
4. gorgous graphics
negatives -
1. some of the worst ai i have seen ( they shoot wait for 3 seconds shoot again. you font have to be smart with this ai as they never once flan ked me or attempted to)
2. time staller. this game i can only see people playing until another major game comes out like cod, halo, assassins creed or need for spped.
3. campaign is not one i would ever play again fully ( unless in wanted steam achievments)
4. not going to win any game of the year awards

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I like it when you customize you're guns online, thats done well but the game is lacking massively in other areas, well most areas lol.
”

Rachael
4 years ago

LFC Bywater
4 years ago

Reading this review has saved me some money, I enjoyed the BETA but still wasn't completely sure whether to buy it or not, but this has swayed me. I guess i will just have to hold out for black ops 2 and halo 4.

Tracy
4 years ago

It is really a bad game .
I am trading this in up town Monday lunch time for store credit and getting Dishonored .
Hey ho , live and learn :(

shiny miller
4 years ago

I was hoping to be pleasantly surprised, but it sounds exactly as expected. A shame.

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Sadly not surprised by it. It just smacks of a desperate attempt to get a slice of the albeit crowded FPS market.
They should have known a game like this would be held up to high standards and been judged as such.
As a side, love the new review system.
”

shiftymorgan
4 years ago

Zealotus
4 years ago

A lot of people mock CoD for not being new and refreshing but every other FPS like Warfighter is guilty, or even guiltier of the same crime. This game doesn't even feel like it meets the same production quality as a top tier FPS. What's even worse is it doesn't even stack up to BFBC2 and BF3, games also put out by EA and infinitely more fun and well polished than Warfighter.

s.c.g
4 years ago

Won't be picking this up until it's cheap then, I do enjoy Medal of Honor but I will very rarely pay full price for such a game.